In general, in the acupuncture and moxibustion treatment of oriental medicine, a needle or moxibustion is used as means for stimulating spots on the body suitable for acupuncture. From among them, moxibustion is widely used because the public can perform a treatment relatively easily using the moxibustion and the moxibustion has no side effects compared to the needle and the moxibustion is widely used at homes for health management.
In an herbal medicine, moxibustion functions to treat or prevent a disease by stimulating spots on the body suitable for acupuncture, meridian system, and an aching part of the human body by applying heat to them, and includes various types. A mugwort moxibustion treatment using mugwort is used most widely.
A mugwort moxibustion treatment method using mugwort is divided into an indirect moxibustion method and a direct moxibustion method depending on a thermal transfer method. It has been known that when conventional mugwort moxibustion treatment is performed, the size of a bundle of mugwort to be ignited is appropriate to be a size half one grain of rice to one grain of rice. In the conventional mugwort moxibustion treatment, a heat stimulus is applied for a proper time by controlling the burning time while generating the proper amount of heat capable of maximizing a therapy effect attributable to mugwort moxibustion while preventing a burn attributable to mugwort moxibustion.
In the conventional mugwort moxibustion treatment method, if the size of a mugwort bundle is small, there are problems in that the handling of the mugwort bundle is very difficult and a sufficient therapy effect cannot be obtained because the amount of heat generated is too small. In contrast, if the size of a mugwort bundle is too large, there are problems in that a scar, such as a spot, is generated at a treatment position due to a burn attributable to the excessive amount of heat generated and in particular, ash remaining after mugwort is burn flies.
In the conventional mugwort moxibustion treatment method, the indirect moxibustion method includes a method for raising a large mugwort pole on yellow soil in which salt, a garlic, and water are mixed at a treatment portion and indirectly delivering a heat stimulus to the treatment portion by burning the large mugwort pole. This method has several problems, such as that this method is inconvenient and a thermal transfer effect is not uniform.
Furthermore, in the conventional mugwort moxibustion treatment method, smoke is generated when a mugwort bundle is burnt, a mugwort bundle has to be ignited whenever treatment is performed, and there is a danger of suffering burns because the mugwort bundle falls during treatment.
A modernized mugwort moxibustion treatment device of a direct moxibustion method, which is now on the market, has a hollow cylinder or hollow multilateral cylinder shape, and has been improved to have a structure in which smoke generated therein comes down to a lower treatment portion to deliver heat and a thin resin material protection film including adhesives is included on a skin contact portion. However, there are problems in that there still remains a danger of a burn, a large blister attributable to burns remains at a corresponding portion after treatment and there is a danger of secondary bacillus infection, and it is difficult and inconvenient to handle ash because a large amount of ash remains after being burnt.
In the case of the indirect moxibustion method which is used by sticking mugwort moxibustion into a hemispherical assistant device having a plurality of holes formed therein, there are problems in that it is very inconvenient because several pieces of mugwort moxibustion have to be burnt, there is a great danger of a burn, a person may suffer a serious burn at another portion if the assistant device falls upon treatment, and it is difficult to handle ash because a large amount of ash is generated.
Accordingly, there is an increasing interest in the development of a moxibustion treatment device capable of reducing such inconvenience and problems, of being easily carried by each person and of continuing to stimulate spots on the body suitable for acupuncture anywhere and at any time. In line with such a tendency, a plurality of portable moxibustion treatment devices has been developed. However, the conventional portable moxibustion treatment device has a problem in that sufficient heat is not applied to the skin or there is a danger of a burn attributable to overheating because a process of bringing a portion (contact portion) through which heat is applied to the skin into contact with the skin or detaching the portion from the skin is performed by experiences and an operator's determination. Furthermore, the conventional portable moxibustion treatment device has problems in that a variety of types of treatment according to symptoms are impossible because the moxibustion treatment device is limited to a heat transfer method for consistently transferring heat simply as disclosed in Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2006-0085703 (Jul. 28, 2006), a far-infrared radiation heating method using a light source as disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-0572706 (Apr. 13, 2006), and a burning heating method using the burning of a mugwort as disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-0320034 (Dec. 24, 2001) and Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2010-0128631 (Dec. 8, 2010) and in view of treatment effects, the moxibustion treatment device is not practically applied to a specialized medical institution because it does not have the same effect as the moxibustion treatment of a specialized medical institution.